Producer’s Note

Most people know that about 6 millions Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, but not many know the story of Holocaust by Bullets that happened throughout Ukraine.Krasnostav was a typical Jewish shtetl in Ukraine with 2,000 inhabitants, half of whom were Jews. Their lives ended in a way typical for the Jews of Ukraine in 1941 - they were killed by German Special Command and local Ukrainian collaborators. Jewish families, including old men, women, and children, were chased to a wooded area nearby and then shot or dumped alive into pits. Throughout Ukraine, the death toll in August of 1941 alone was 61,000 Jews. During a 6 month period in 1941, 500,000 Jews were murdered in cold blood; that number rose to 750,000 in 1942 before dropping to 150,000 in 1943 and 100,000 in 1944. As a result, the Jewish population of thousands in various towns and villages was completely wiped out.Seventy-four years later, in May 2015, the descendants of those Jews went on a mission to Ukraine in search of their family history. The trail brought the group to the war memorials, mass graves and Jewish cemeteries in and around Krasnostav, Zaslav, Berezdov, Shepetovka and Slavuta. Those monuments and graves, surrounded by picturesque landscapes, are the only remnant of the former Jewish settlements.Personal stories captured in the film, reminiscences of eyewitnesses who were children at the start of the war, and tales that post-war children heard from their parents illustrate the circumstances of those tragic events. This documentary is just one small window into the lives of people affected by such tragedy. We hope that it will serve as a portal to widening awareness of genocide not just among those who remember the past, but among those who will create our future. The film “The Road to Krasnostav” is a great tool to stimulate public awareness about what had happened to the Jewish population of Ukraine during the war. The intimate details and human response to the tragic circumstances presented in the film should engage viewers emotionally and force them to feel the totality of the destruction of Jewish life in Ukraine.Even though the film deals with horrible tragedy, it does end on a positive note. Despite all the atrocities, the Jews survived, multiplied and now pray “Kiddush” at the Holocaust victims' graves.

Production of the film was sponsored by members of Tsal Kaplun Foundation.